Better Than Chocolate by Sheila Roberts - Chapter Sampler

7/31/2019 Better Than Chocolate by Sheila Roberts - Chapter Sampler

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Praise for Sheila Roberts

Within minutes of cracking open the book, my mood wasliftedThe warm, glowing feeling it gave me lasted for days.

First for Women on The Snow Globe

Will doubtless warm more than a few hearts.Publishers Weekly onAngel Lane

Most fiction lovers will enjoy this feel-good approachto todays uncertainties.

Bookliston Small Change

Realistic characters populate the pages of this captivating story,which is a great escape from the holiday hustle and bustle.

RT Book Reviewson On Strike for Christmas

An uplifting, charming, feel-good storyfrom the author ofBikini Season (2008).

BooklistonAngel Lane

Robertss book of small-town life is as sweet as ginger cookiesand as homey as raisin pie (recipes included).

Readers will laugh and cry with the women lovingly portrayedin this heartwarming story that explores

the joys of friendship and the power of good deeds.

RT Book ReviewsonAngel LaneHoming in on issues many readers can identify with,

Robertss women search for practical solutionsto a common challenge with humor and froth.

Publishers Weekly on Small Change

A congenial cast of subsidiary charactersmeet Hope at acommunity garden plot and share their stories there. Roberts

effectively knits these troubled but kindly characters together ina story line that throws the reader a few unexpected twists.

The Seattle Timeson Love in Bloom

Love in Bloom is a wonderful story with characters so realand defined I feel like I am personally acquainted with them

There is humor and emotion in large quantitiesin this fantastic book that is next to impossible to put down.

Kudos and a large bouquet of flowers to Sheila Robertsfor giving us one of the best books of the year.

Fresh Fiction


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Chocolate

better than

S H E I L A R O B E RTS


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DID YOU PURCHASE THIS BOOK WITHOUT A COVER?If you did, you should be aware it is stolen propertyas it was

reported unsold and destroyed by a retailer.Neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment

for this book.

First Published 2012First Australian Paperback Edition 2012ISBN 978 192179572 5

BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE 2012 by Sheila RabePhilippine Copyright 2012Australian Copyright 2012New Zealand Copyright 2012

Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilisation of this work in wholeor in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now knownor hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or inany information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the permissionof the publisher, Mira Books, Locked Bag 7002, Chatswood D.C. N.S.W.,Australia 2067.

This book is sold subject to the condition that shall not, by way of trade or

otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the priorconsent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in whichit is published and without a similar condition including this condition beingimposed on the subsequent purchaser.

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in anyform. This edition is published in arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A..

;OPZPZH^VYRVMJ[PVU5HTLZJOHYHJ[LYZWSHJLZHUKPUJPKLU[ZHYLLP[OLY[OLWYVK\J[VM[OLH\[OVYZPTHNPUH[PVUVYHYL\ZLKJ[P[PV\ZS HUKHU`YLZLTISHUJLto actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales isentirely coincidental.

Published byMira BooksLevel 515 Help StreetCHATSWOOD NSW 2067AUSTRALIA

MIRA and the Star colophon are trademarks used under license andregistered in Australia, New Zealand, the United States Patent & Trademark6MJLHUKPUV[OLYJV\U[YPLZ

7YPU[LKHUKIV\UKPU(\Z[YHSPHI`.YPMU7YLZZ


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Dear Reader,

Welcome to Icicle Falls, my ideal town. This place hasit all: breathtaking scenery, quaint shops, people who

understand the importance of pulling together whenthe going gets tough, laughter, romance and, best of all,a chocolate factory. (Does it get any more ideal thanthat?)

I hope youll enjoy your time with the Sterling womenand their friends. These are my kind of women

women who dare to dream and then work hard tomake those dreams come true. Because where would

we be without dreams? And where would we bewithout our mothers, sisters and girlfriends, thosespecial people who understand us and love us in spiteof our flaws? I dont know and I dont want to know.

I dare you to get all the way through this book withouteating so much as a bite of chocolate. I couldnt! I hope

youll find me on Facebook and Twitter, and stop bymy website, www.sheilasplace.com. Happy reading!

Sheila


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For Lilly-Anne, Patand the gang at A Book for All Seasons

in Leavenworth, Washington

Acknowledgments

Sometimes when we think of an authorwriting a novel we envision the poor thing hunched overa keyboard for hours on end, staring at a computer screen,

all by herself, consuming vast quantities of chocolate,growing fat on her hips. Oh, my gosh, thats me!

Except writing isnt always a solitary pursuit.After all, a girl has to do research. And this is the part ofthe book where I get to thank the people who helped me

with that research. I owe a big thank-you to mylong-suffering husband for sharing his banking expertise

and doing copious research to help me try to get my

business details correct. Also, a huge thank-you to Lauraat Bainbridge Island City Hall for explaining all the workthat goes into putting on a community event. When itcomes to community events, Bainbridge knows how to

do it. Big thanks to Brett at Theo Chocolate in Seattle forbeing so willing to answer all my questions about whatgoes into running a chocolate company. They do it right

over there. Thanks to my Facebook friends and fans whosent me recipeswish there was room in this book forevery one of them. To the brain trust: Susan Wiggs,

Anjali Banerjee, Kate Breslin and Elsa Watsonyou girls rock. And finally, huge thanks to the gang at

the Chamber of Commerce in Leavenworth, Washington,for making their resources available to me; the history of

how your town built itself into a charming alpine villageand successful tourist destination is truly inspiring.

Icicle Falls is the closest I can come to a tribute.


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Chapter One

Manage your relationships well and your business will go well.

Because what, after all, is business but a relationship with some

dollar signs attached?

Muriel Sterling,Mixing Business with Pleasure: How to Successfully

Balance Business and Love

Samantha Sterling sat next to her mother in the first pew of IcicleFalls Community Church and fought back the urge to jump up, run

to the front of the sanctuary, grab her stepfather, Waldo, by the neck

and throttle him. She didnt, for two reasons. One, a girl didnt do

things like that in church. Still, she could have overcome her reser-vations if not for the second reasonGod had already taken Waldo

out. Waldo was as dead as roadkill on Highway 2. In addition to a

daughter from his first marriage, hed left behind his grieving wife,

Muriel, his three stepdaughters, Samantha, Cecily and Bailey, and

the family business, which was nearly as dead as Waldo.

Sweet Dreams Chocolates had been healthy when Samanthas

father was alive. The company had been started by her great-

grandmother Rose and had slowly but steadily grown under his

leadershipone big, happy family to mirror the happy family who


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Sheila Roberts8

were living off its profits. All three sisters had spent their summers

working at Sweet Dreams. All three had it drummed into them from

an early age that this business was the source of both the familys

income and honor (not to mention chocolate). But it was Samanthawho had fallen in love with it. Of the three girls, she was the one

whod stayed and she was the heir apparent.

But then her father had died and everything came to a halt.

Samantha lost the man she and her sisters idolized, and her mother

lost her way. Muriel left it to Samantha and the bookkeeper, Lizzy,

to keep the company running on autopilot while first she mourned

and then later searched for a new husband.Enter Waldo Wittman, a tall, gray-haired widower recently re-

tired, encouraged to do so by his company, which was downsizing.

(Now, looking back, Samantha suspected there were other reasons

Waldo had been turned loose.) Hed wanted to get away from the

rat race, or so hed said. With its mountain views, its proximity to

eastern Washington wine country, its small-town friendliness andits attractive widow, Waldo decided Icicle Falls would fit the bill.

And Muriel decided the same about Waldo. So, after a year and a

half of widowhood, she got a new man.

And now there he was, at the front of the church, stretched out

in his favoriteexpensive!gray suit. Sweet, beloved Waldothe

money-eater. Oh, Waldo, how could everything have gone so wrong so

fast?It was early January, the beginning of a new year. And what a

nightmare year it was promising to be, all because Mom had made

her new husband president of their family-owned business. Shed

left Samantha as VP in charge of marketing; much good that had

done. Now Samantha was VP in charge of disaster and she could

hardly sit still thinking of the mess waiting for her back at the office.

Youre fidgeting, whispered her sister Cecily, who was sitting

next to her.

Fidgeting at a funeral probably wasnt polite but it was an im-


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Better Than Chocolate 9

provement over standing up, pulling out her hair and shrieking like

a madwoman.

Why, oh, why hadnt Mom and Dad done what needed to be

done to make sure that if something happened to Dad the businesspassed into competent hands? Then Mom could have skipped hap-

pily off into newlywed bliss, no harm no foul.

None of them had expected her to remain alone forever. She was

only in her fifties when Dad died and she didnt function well alone.

When Waldo arrived on the scene she came back to life, and

Samantha had been happy for her. He was fun and charming, and

she and her sisters gave him a hearty thumbs-up. Why not? Hedbrought back Moms smile. At first everyone got along well. Like

Samantha, hed been a shutterbug and theyd enjoyed talking pho-

tography. Her favorite joke when shed stop by the house to talk

business with Mom (or try, anyway) was to ask, Wheres Waldo?

But once Mom dropped him on the company like a bomb,

Samantha didnt have to ask. She knew where Waldo was. He wasat the office, in over his head and making her crazy.

She ground her teeth as she mentally tallied how much money

hed squandered: new business cards with his name on them, new

stationery, new equipment they hadnt needed, a fancy phone system

they couldnt afford that a slick-tongued sales rep had talked him

into buying. How could a businessman be so bad at business? Of

course hed convinced both himself and Mom that every purchasewas necessary, and Samantha hadnt had the veto power to stop him.

That had been just the beginning. Six months ago their profits

sank and they started having trouble paying their suppliers. Waldo

cut back on production, which then affected their ability to fill or-

ders, and Lizzy, their bookkeeper, began looking as if shed been

invited to dinner with the grim reaper. Were behind on our IRS

quarterlies, shed informed Samantha. And thats not all. She

showed Samantha expenditures on the company credit card that

made no sense. A gun. Ammunition. Cases and cases of bottled


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Sheila Roberts10

water, enough to keep the whole town hydrated. Waldo was a fi-

nancial locust, devouring the company.

Wheres Waldo? Busy dumping their lives in the toilet. Flush,

flush, flush!She could have happily stuffed his head in a toilet andAnd I believe that if Waldo could speak to us now hed say,

Thank God for a life well-lived, Pastor Jim said.

Her mother let out a sob and Samantha felt a pang of guilt. She

should be crying, too. Shed liked Waldo. Hed been a man with a

big heart and a big appetite for life.

We know hell be missed, Pastor Jim was saying, and Cecily

laid a comforting hand on Moms arm. That, of course, gave Mom

permission to start crying in earnest.

Poor Mom, whispered Bailey, who was sitting on the other side

of Samantha. First Dad and now Waldo.

Losing two husbandstalk about a double whammy. Mom

had not only loved both her husbands, shed loved being married.

She had no head for business (which probably explained why Grandpahad been perfectly happy to let Dad run Sweet Dreams), but she

had a gift for relationships. Shed even had a couple of relationship

books published with a small publisher and before Waldo died shed

been about to start on a new book, Secrets of a Happy Remarriage.

Samantha hoped that now Mom would turn her attention to

learning how to have a happy lifewith no marriage. At least, nomarriage until they could get the business off the critical-care list

and Samantha was put officially in charge.

The sooner, the better. Her first order of business would be to re-

hire Lizzy, who Waldo had f ired in a misbegotten attempt to econ-

omize. She only hoped Lizzy would come back and help her sort

through this mess.

She heaved a sigh. Here her mother was grieving and all she could

think about was saving the family business. What was wrong with

her? Did she have a calculator for a heart?


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Now Id like to give the rest of you a chance to say something

about Waldo, Pastor Jim said.

He made me nutsprobably wouldnt cut it. Samantha stayed seated.

Lots of other people were happy to oblige, though.He was the most generous man I ever met, said Maria Gomez,

his regular waitress at Zeldas. He gave me two hundred dollars

to get my car fixed. Just like that. Said not to worry about paying

him back.

Samantha pressed her lips firmly together and envisioned hun-

dred-dollar bills with wings flying away, circling ever upward and

off toward Sleeping Lady Mountain.You do have a calculator for a heart. People were talking about how

nice Waldo had been, and all she could think about was money. She

was a terrible person, a terrible, terrible person. She hadnt always

been like that, had she? A tear slipped from a corner of her eye.

Ed York, owner of DVine Wines, stood. I can still remember

sitting with Waldo out on his deck, looking at the mountains, shar-ing a bottle of wine, and him saying, You know, Ed, it doesnt get

any better than this. That Waldo, he sure knew how to enjoy life.

While everyone around him was pulling out their hair.

He was a dear soul, old Mrs. Nilsen said. Last month he stopped

in the freezing cold to change my tire when I had a flat on High-

way 2.

On and on went the praise. Good, old, wonderful Waldo. Every-one here would miss himexcept his rotten, ungrateful, Scrooge-in-

drag, calculator-for-a-heart stepdaughter. She was pathetic. Another

tear sneaked out of her eye and trickled down her cheek.

Pastor Jim finally called a halt to the festivities and the party made

its way under cloudy skies to Festival Hall, where everyone could

mingle, sing Waldos praises further and devour cold cuts and potato

salad. Inside, the three sisters smiled and commiserated.

Waldos brother and his daughter, Wanda, had flown in from

the East Coast. Taking in the womans red eyes as she approached,


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Sheila Roberts12

Samantha managed to find empathy in the swirl of guilt and resent-

ment and frustration she was experiencing

Im sorry were having to see each other again in such sad cir-

cumstances, Wanda said.So are we, Cecily told her.

Im sorry for your loss, Samantha added. And she was. She knew

how horrible it was to lose a father and she wouldnt wish that on

her worst enemy.

Wanda dabbed at her eyes with a soggy tissue. I cant believe

hes gone. He was the best father. And he was always so positive, so

upbeat.So clueless. I wish we could turn back the clock, Samantha said.

Wanda sniffed and nodded. You were all so good to him.

Samantha couldnt think of anything to say to that. She hardly

wanted to confess that during the past few months shed been any-

thing but good.

Cecily stepped into the gap. He was a nice man.True. He was just a bad businessman.

He sure loved Muriel, Wanda said. He was so lonely after

Mother died. Muriel gave him a new lease on life.

And I dont know what her life wouldve been like without him,

Samantha said.

I think Muriel would like to hear that, Wanda, murmured Wal-

dos brother, Walter, as he led their long-distance stepsister away.I need a drink, Samantha said.

Great idea, Bailey agreed, and they all drifted over to the punch

bowl.

Samantha really wasnt much of a drinker, but a good stiff belt

sure seemed to help a lot of movie characters through stressful mo-

ments and right about now she was willing to give it a try. I wish

this was spiked, she muttered.

Bailey looked across the room at their mother. I feel so bad for

Mom.


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Muriel Sterling-Wittman sat on a folding chair framed by the

weak winter light coming through the window behind her, a beau-

tiful tragic figure starting the new year alone. Her basic black dress

discreetly draped her Betty Boop curves and her hair was still thesame shiny chestnut it had been when Samantha was a girl, courtesy

of the geniuses at Sleeping Lady Salon. The green eyes Waldo once

raved about were bloodshot from crying but still looked lovely thanks

to lashes thick with waterproof mascara. Half the men in the room

were hovering around with tissues in case she found herself in need.

Well, at least we wont have to worry about her being lonely,

Bailey said. She was the spitting image of their mother and the mostlike her, as wellsweet, positive and naive.

Cecily gave a cynical snort. Much good any of those men will

do her. Theyre all married.

Not Ed, Bailey pointed out.

Hes got the hots for Pat over at the bookstore, Samantha said,

and mentally added,Thank God.

Arnies not married, Bailey said. Neither is Mayor Stone. Or

Waldos brother. Wouldnt it be sweet if

Samantha cut her off. Lets not even put that thought out in the

universe. All they needed was another man coming along and con-

vincing Mom that the third time would be the charm.

Look at them. Waldos barely gone and theyre already circling

around her like some old-guy version ofThe Bachelor. Cecily shookher head. Men.

You know, for a matchmaker you sure have a sucky attitude,

Bailey observed.

Where do you think I got it? Cecily retorted.

How do you manage to stay in business? Bailey asked in disgust.

By staying superficial. Cecily gave them a wicked grin.

Cecily was the only blonde in the family and she was the pretti-

est of them all with perfect features and the longest legs. Samantha

had been cute with her red hair and freckles, but it was Cecily the


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Sheila Roberts14

boys drooled over. Still, in spite of her good looks, Cupid had never

been kind to her. So far shed gone through two fiancs. Saman-

tha didnt understand how Cecily could make money matching up

beautiful people in L.A. but couldnt seem to get it right when itcame to her own love life.

Like youre doing so well?

Touch, she told her snarky self.

Youre enough to make a woman give up on love, Bailey mut-

tered as she nodded and smiled politely at old Mr. Nilsen, who was

ogling her from the other side of the hall.

That would be the smart thing to do, Cecily said.Well, I dont think Moms ready to give up on love. Maybe you

could match her up with someone, Bailey suggested.

No! Several people turned to stare and Samantha downed a slug

of punch in an effort to put out the fire in her cheeks. What was

wrong with her? Could a woman suddenly get Tourettes at thirty?

The wicked in Cecilys grin kicked up a notch. I know what youmean. No one will ever be able to replace Waldo.

I liked Waldo, I really did, Samantha said. But no more men.

Ive got enough to deal with already.

Gosh, Sammy. Bailey frowned at her.

Samantha frowned back. Hey, baby sister, you two get to go back

to sunny California and match up lonely millionaires and cater events

for starlets. Im the one stuck with the fallout here.Cecily sobered. Im sorry. Youre right. Were leaving you with a

mess. Youve got the business to sort out, plus Moms affairs.

Except if anyone can do it, you can, Sammy, Bailey said, link-

ing arms with her.

Samantha sighed. As the oldest it was her job to be the rock every-

one leaned onalthough right now she didnt feel like a rock. She

felt like a pebble on a beach about to be swept away by a tsunami.

And her own mother had been the one to unwittingly drop her

there. She and Muriel loved each other dearly, but they often dis-


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agreed. And before Waldo died theyd disagreed a lot, especially when

Samantha tried to get her mother to talk sense into him.

Hes not feeling well, Mom kept saying, but when pressed for

details shed remained vague.Maybe the poor guys heart had been acting up all along. Maybe

hed been so worried about his bad health he hadnt been able to

concentrate and that was why hed made such poor decisions. Except

that didnt explain his odd purchases. Or the answers hed given herwhen she asked about them.

A man needs to be able to protect whats his, hed said when

shed questioned him about the gun.In Icicle Falls? shed countered. The biggest crime theyd had all

year was when Amanda Stevens keyed Jimmy Rodriguezs Jeep after

hed cheated on her with another girl. And Jimmy hadnt pressed

charges.

You never know, Waldo had hedged. I saw someone. In the

parking lot.Doing what? shed asked.

He was following me. And dont tell your mother, hed said. I

dont want to worry her.

Like hed just worried his stepdaughter? Then thered been the

water.

We could have an avalanche and be trapped here for days, hed

said.Shed let that slide, too. Until things started getting really bad.

And then, just when shed decided she and her mother would need

to have a very unpleasant conversation, Waldo had walked from

their house on Alpine Drive into town and keeled over dead right

in front of Lupine Floral. Poor Kevin had dropped the roses hed

been storing in the cooler and run out to give him CPR while his

partner, Heinrich, called 9-1-1, but Waldo was dead within minutes.

And now she was stuck dealing with the mess hed left behind.

Her sisters were leaving on Monday and she was the one whod be


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Sheila Roberts16

dealing with their mother and figuring out how to pay the people

who depended on Sweet Dreams for their livelihood. Great-grandma

Rose, whod started this business on a dream, was probably turning

in her grave at what her descendants had done to it.Samantha frowned at her half-empty punch cup. The glass is half

emptythe glass is half full. Either way, This stuff needs booze.


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Better Than Chocolate by Sheila Roberts - Chapter Sampler